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So, I have a two-part question regarding combat maneuvers.

There was an interpretation of the rules posted a while back staging weapons that possess the Combat Maneuver Trait such as Trip in addition to the Finesse Trait allows you to use your Dexterity Modifier for the check rather than your Strength Modifier.

Is that correct?

Part two to that question, are you able to do this with a free hand as well since fists/unarmed attacks are also a Finesse Weapon and you're able to perform combat maneuvers with a free hand without needing any additional traits?

Would love to get an official response on this one so I can settle it in my interpretation of these rules. Thanks!!

I think this spell may need a little bit of errata.

https://2e.aonprd.com/Spells.aspx?ID=187

From the way it reads there is no set duration, instead it is simply sustained for as long as the caster wishes it. They can only trap one creature in the maze. And finally the part that is most troubling to me is the way that the saves work for it.

It says that once per round you can spend an action to attempt either a Survival or Perception Check against the Spell DC with the following results.

Critical Success: The target escapes and the spell ends.
Success: The target escapes and the spell ends.
Failure: The target makes no progress toward escape.
Critical Failure: The target makes no progress toward escape, and if it was on the right path, it no longer is.

From the way that it reads to me you should be earning some sort of progress through the use of your checks to escape the maze rather than simply escaping on a single attempt, while Failure makes no Progress and Critical Failure resets your progress.

How exactly is this supposed to work in the new system?

I have a question about this feat. It says that it grants you the ability to cast Detect Magic at will as an Innate Spell and shows that you have the higher effect versions through heightening as you gain a higher Proficiency in Arcana.

My question is for the purposes of Counteracting checks does the spell count as heightening to half your level similar to Innate Spells and Cantrips or does it stop heightening at 4th level effectively unable to detect illusion magic and other effects that are a higher level?

As the title reads looking into the cost of Snares and the fact that they're completely disposable it seems like requiring a feat for it is just a slap in the face.

I wish you could at the very least recover snares that haven't been set off, or that they simply became broken when set off so you have to spend time repairing them.

From what it looks like though a snare can cost more than scrolls normally do!

For a one shot that seems a tad high.

How do the two skills Engineering Lore and Blacksmithing Lore differ from each other? Would it ever be worth having both of them, or does Engineering include the necessary Blacksmithing information?

I just wanted to go over something that was bothering me.

Repairing Thieves' Tools right now has a cost associated to it. I think that this is a bit extreme compared to what it takes to repair items normally. Critically failing a Pick Lock check causes your set of picks to become broken. This is understandable but the fact that it calls out replacing the broken picks is rough.

Here's my suggestion.

Change the Critical Failure for Thievery - Pick Lock to the following.

Critical Failure You either undo one success you have already gained, or, if you have no successes, you break your tools. The tools can be used while broken, but are treated as poor-quality tools. If your tools are already broken then your picks are destroyed and must be replaced. Replacing them requires 6 sp, or 50 sp for expert-quality thieves’ tools.

Outside of that you can let picks be repaired normally by the Craft skill. There still is a chance for Critical Failure which will destroy them but it gives you a chance to save them and prevents an instant loss of character wealth.

As it is right now, Skill Assurance is a bit of a weak Skill Feat. I've been rolling around a few ideas on paper for the past few weeks and feel like I've got something that might work a bit better.

Right now, Assurance is a skill feat that needs to be purchased for each skill you wish to apply it to. It allows you to ignore some very basic skill checks based on your proficiency and ignores all other factors such as level, attribute modifier, and other bonuses.

Currently that comes out to the following results.

One of the most common things that I've been seeing lately on the skill forums is that people are having issues with the modifiers that various skill proficiencies provide. The biggest complaint is that there is barely any difference between someone who is a higher level that is only trained at a skill compared to someone who is much lower level but happens to have their skill at Expert or Master rank.

I was hoping that this can help bring some life to proficiencies beyond the crunchy bits of '+X to Roll and qualify for Skill Feat'. One of the best ways I've seen to do this is through the use of Skill Gating that's detailed in the Game Mastering section of the Rulebook. Below are some examples of this in practice.

Untrained

When a skill is untrained you take a -4 Penalty to your total skill roll. In addition to this you are only able to make skill checks for the most common skill uses. In some cases you are unable to use the skill at all.

This level of proficiency should allow someone to accomplish basic tasks such as climbing a rope, keeping their balance on the deck of a ship, or making common knowledge rolls that everyone has a chance to know.

With your proficiency at a rank of Untrained you should not expect to be able to participate in most skill challenges related to that skill.

Trained

When a skill is trained you do not get any bonuses or penalties to your total skill roll.

This level of proficiency should allow someone to accomplish standard uses of a skill and participate in minor skill challenges. This includes being able to roll to provide food or shelter for yourself in the wilderness, keeping your balance on a narrow passage, climbing the side of a building, disarming more complex traps, treating poison or disease, identifying magical items.. Pretty much the meat of most checks will start here.

With your proficiency at the rank of Trained you should expect to start participating in group skill challenges or low level personal skill challenges.

Expert

When a skill is at the rank of expert you get a +1 bonus to your total skill roll. In addition to this you are able to start attempting higher ranked skill challenges.

This level of proficiency should allow someone to accomplish more nuanced uses of their skill. Some examples of this would be disarming more complex traps or dealing with haunts, climbing the side of a cliff with adverse conditions, crafting more valuable items, surviving in more adverse environments, participating in more delicate social scenarios such as politics or spying.

The GM will normally limit rolls that they want only characters who are focused a skill to be able to attempt. Expert ranked skills will typically allow you to be able to succeed at these checks.

Master

When a skill is at the rank of master you get a +2 bonus to your total skill roll. In addition to this you are able to start attempting extremely difficult skill challenges and gaining possible workarounds on lower ranked skill challenges.

This level of proficiency should allow someone to accomplish extremely specialized uses of a skill. This can include knowing lore that only a handful of loremasters in the world are aware of, being able to craft works of art, knowing tricks to circumvent standard traps that allows you to disable it with less required successes at a lower DC, or having contacts in high ranks of an organization that can provide you with information or favors.

The GM will normally limit skill tests by this rank of Proficiency if they want only a true specialist in their field to attempt them.

Legendary

When a skill is at the rank of legendary you get a +3 bonus to your total skill roll. In addition to this you are considered legendary in this particular skill. This means you are able to attempt any use of this skill, and possibly be able to accomplish other skills through the use of this skill.

Some examples could include the use of Crafting to disarm a trap, Society to gather information from contacts, Survival to allow you to thrive in an extremely difficult environment that may normally require magic such as a hostile plane, or Medicine to recall knowledge on monster weaknesses.

Do any of the Rogue's Talents count as having a Caster Level for the purposes of qualifying for Magic Item Crafting Feats? There have been some posts in the past that referenced this but I wanted an official rule confirmation.

There are several talents such as Minor Magic and Major Magic that grant spell like abilities at a Caster Level equal to the Rogue's level so I wanted to be sure.

Thanks!

Is there a spell that allows the caster to "See in Darkness" as the universal monster ability?

Thanks!

There are a ton of rules online for forcing outsiders and elementals to do your bidding when using spells like Planar Ally and Planar Binding, but they really don't cover a ton of details on what you would need in order to handle one in a conversation without magic.

Provided you wanted to approach a conversation with an elemental peacefully and diplomatically to attempt to gain them as a follower or an ally, how would Diplomacy play into it? What do elementals actually LIKE?

I know that the Elemental Ally Druid Archetype gets a form of Elemental Empathy and that Wild Empathy can be expanded to work on Elementals, so how do you translate that into normal social skills?

Looking forward to the responses!

I could use some advice with creating a template for both Half-Dragon [Force] and Half-Dragon [Platinum].

Any ideas are appreciated!

Just curious about this addon and what sort of benefits you were looking at it having. As the texts shows

All characters in Pathfinder Online are marked by Pharasma and are thus able to return from the dead at the soulbinding points. You bear the same mark as all other characters but you have a second, distinctive mark as well. None know why you bear this mark, nor what it may portend in the future, but be sure that Fate has many surprises in store for those who are Twice-Chosen by the Lady of Graves. The bearer of this second Mark will have access to content and mechanical benefits distinct to those who are Twice Marked! You may purchase this Add-On multiple times.

My question is two-fold,

What sort of benefits were you looking at having? (No detailed mechanics are needed)

and

This addon says you can purchase it multiple times, does it add it's benefit to the same character multiple times or is that text there to purchase for multiple accounts? If it can be used multiple times on the same character is there a limit as to what you can do with it?

Thanks!

Name: Platinum Blades

Alignment: Neutral

Preferred Alignments: Lawful Neutral/Neutral Good/True Neutral/Neutral Evil/Chaotic Neutral

Role: Crafting/Trade/Contracting

Player Roles Accepted: All

Membership: Anyone wanting to be a part of a larger community where they can pursue their goals.

Concept: The Platinum Blades is an adventurers guild for people who want to amass wealth. Whether you want to adventure for fame and profit or stay at home and be a successful merchant all are welcome with the Platinum Blades.

Goals: Some day, hopefully not far in the future with everyone's support I would like to see a center for crafting, free trade, and adventuring that supports obtaining what most people care about.. Money, Power, and Fame. There are a ton of larger guilds out there claiming to want to help other people and that is great but it can only get you so far. This is a place for mature people to learn on their own terms and to build their reputations and wallets. One day, I hope for this settlement to be the center for commerce and trade in this region of Golarion. Come join in on the ground floor!

I'm not sure if I'm the only one that feels like this, but I'm slightly reluctant to purchase any of the addons. Some of them I really want to, but the only reason I don't is because it doesn't say what they actually do.

All it says is "Mechanical Benefit".

Things like the Regional Trait Pack and Twice Marked of Pharasma. This carries over into other things as well that affect my actual backing.

Any detail is good detail especially on things where you're asking for more money to unlock it. I know you're trying to push hard to make the goal but it's going to be difficult to do just with Addons.

Summary: Please post more detail as to what Regional Traits, Twice Marked of Pharasma, and other similar extras will actually do for you. :)

By RAW..

Can a Rogue with the Fast Stealth talent double move while stealthed in a round without any penalty? Is there any way for them to run while stealthed without Invisibility?

Is Invisibility/Silence a good combination?

Does Camoflauge/Invisbility stack?

Looking forward to responses. :)

I may be one of the few people thinking about this, and I may be over thinking it.. but what are the classifications of a light weapon? Is it the weight, the bulk, or is it simply a bad terminology for a "Weapon of this type that can be used with Weapon Finesse.".. At the same time, does a weapon that normally doesn't qualify as a light weapon gain light weapon properties if it can be used with Weapon Finesse?

I for one have always thought that the Shortsword is the largest "Light" weapon there is. And have used the Weight of that to signify "Light" weapons. If a Longsword made out of Mithral weighed lighter then a Shortsword would it become a light weapon? If no, why not?

What about Ironwood? That material is crazy light. If you can make a weapon weigh less then a Short Sword, does it still not qualify as a light weapon?

Please, discuss. I'd like to know people's opinions on this and what anyone else does if houserules exist.

I for one houserule that any weapon with a weight of 2 or less, barring weapons of unusual size/bulk (and GM veto power) qualify as Light Weapons.. and can be used as offhand weapons without a penalty just like light weapons. These weapons can also be used with Weapon Finesse.

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Rogue Talents
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Modification to Trap Spotter that will allow the sensing of secret/hidden doors as well, or a new Rogue Talent similar to Trapspotter called Door Spotter.

Faster Stealth - Ability to Double Move while Stealth without penalty, pre-req of Fast Stealth

Lasting Poison - Ability to poison a weapon and have it last for multiple rounds (Similar to the Alchemist Sticky Poison discovery)

Improved Flanking - Bonuses that allow extra attack bonuses for flanking an enemy or catching them flat footed. Possible damage bonuses if they feel it is helpful to balance.

----------------------
Advanced Rogue Talents
----------------------

Running Stealth - Ability to Run with Stealth at a significantly less penalty.

Hide in Plain Sight - As Shadowdancer/Assassin

Darkstalker - As the old feat (Possibly level 20 requirement, possibly sooner)

Improved Trap Spotter/Door Spotter increased range increment to make it more viable for higher end traps.

Magical Aura Negation - Ability to hide magical auras from worn items. It helps you pose as a Diplomat or other various official when you don't glow as bright as the son if someone attempts to use Detect Magic in the area.

Any other Rogue Talent would easily be added to this list, allowing improved benefits of adding status effects to enemies by sacrificing a number of sneak attack dice for an attack.. Anything that aids Stealth.. Anything that aids Trap Detection and Neutralization.

Just my 2 cents. Feel free to toss your own in. :)

To show my support to a Pathfinder Epic Handbook, I wanted to start a thread to gather ideas as to what could possibly be in it.

So far, what I'd like to see as possible options.

1) Level Progression/Rules for going beyond 20 total character levels, whether it extends base classes past 20, or simply encourages prestige classes or multi-classing.

2) Feat Support for going beyond 20th level.

3) 10th level and higher spells (possible creation rules/expansion to the UM spell creation rules, ofc including words of power as well)

4) Encounter Support and Adventure ideas for beyond 20th level adventures.

5) Support for High Level Campaign ideas 15-20.

6) Alternative options printed in the flavor of E6, making a game feel "Epic" while capping the levels to a lower amount. Possibly several variants that include 6th, 8th, 10th, 12th, and 14th level caps. Of course still following the spirit of the E6 type of game.

7) Information on becoming a god and interacting with the gods. God hunting, doing errands for them, basically anything that would put you into their divine realm.

8) More focus/details on Planar Travel.. if possible, more details on "Mundane" and "Non-Magical" ways to reach other planes through the transitory planes.

9) Setup/Support for a framework of higher level Adventure Paths/Modules set on the Planes and in the world of Golarion.

If anyone else has any other suggestions I emplore you to post them as well. If any designers/developers/writers/etc would like to comment I encourage you to do so. :D